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January 31, 2007
RIP Ms. Ivins...
Posted by Andrew at 05:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Chavez declared Dictator
Chavez gets powers to remake Venezuela | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
No surprise there...
Posted by Andrew at 11:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Just ad hominem
"We have now had amendments that have been worth over 200 billion dollars… Amendments that have been offered. We've had amendments on education of 35 billion dollars. We've had health-savings amendments that will benefit people with average incomes of $112,000… We've had those kinds of amendments and we're looking at the Kyl amendment at 3 billion dollars. But we still cannot get two dollars and fifteen cents -- over two years. Over two years!"What is the price, we ask the other side? What is the price that you want from these working men and women? What cost? How much more do we have to give to the private sector and to business? How many billion dollars more, are you asking, are you requiring?
"When does the greed stop, we ask the other side? That's the question and that's the issue."
It's bombastic, yes. But it's a legitimate argument. In effect he's saying raising the minimum wage is so worth doing that it's an end to itself, not something that ought to be "bought" with "sweeteners" that aid not Average Americans, but the rich...
One pile -- labeled $8.3 billion -- was the value of small-business tax cuts that Republicans want to include in a minimum-wage bill. The other pile -- slightly larger, representing $8.5 billion -- depicted the federal contribution to a certain controversial public-works project in Kennedy's home state.
Basicaly they're saying Sen. Kennedy did something bad almost a decade ago. Now we're doing something 97.64% as bad. Rather than attacking the man's argument, they're attacking the man's integrity. Is he a hypocrite? Hell! Let's throw in liar and probable murderer. He's also fat. Saying any of that is a refusal to engage the substance of the man's arguments. Such a refusal is tacit admission that Kennedy is right: the Rich are making war on the Poor. And now we know who stands where...
Posted by Andrew at 12:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 30, 2007
Race against Music
Not much to add here; I don't really listen to much radio. Still, food for thought...
Alternative-Rock Radio's Race Problem | The A.V. Club
Posted by Andrew at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 28, 2007
By all the gods of heaven and Earth
Let's just start with the illiteracy of making the prince be the one who doesn't want montague and capulet to marry...
And let's end with: "With the help of their friends Friar Lawrence and Kissy (the kissing fish), the day is saved and the young lovers are reunited"
Happy ending?!
Weaker copyright laws might have kept us from Lucas' Episodes 1,2, and 3. Stronger ones would keep us from this abomination...
Posted by Andrew at 03:37 PM
January 25, 2007
There is no coherent strategy
This gets really interesting around the 2:15 mark.
"I don't think we've ever had a coherent strategy.
In fact, I would even challenge the administration today to show us the plan that the president talked about the other night. There is no plan.
I happen to know Pentagon planners were on their way to the Central Com over the weekend. They haven't even team B'ed this plan.
And my dear friend Dick Lugar talks about coherence of strategy. There is no strategy. This is a ping-pong game with American lives."
If there is no plan, why are we sending soldiers? If there is a plan, why is the Pentagon not testing it? If the president knows, why isn't he doing anything to fix it? This is very bad...
(Via Angry Bear)
Posted by Andrew at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2007
Line of the Day
"Though, to be honest, Wikipedia could steal my girl, key my car, and salt my lawn -- and I'd still think I'm getting the better end of the deal."
- Ezra Klein
Posted by Andrew at 01:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Democratic Response
Posted by Andrew at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
How did I go so long without having read this?
American Prospect Online - My Summer Reading Journal
Too much good stuff to quote. Just read the whole thing...
Posted by Andrew at 09:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Here's a tip, guys:
When your budget has a windfall, question it. Find out where it came from. Otherwise you end up With this
A computer glitch in the tax rolls of Porter County, Ind., causes the valuation of a house in the city of Valparaiso to shoot up from $122,000 to $400 million - boosting its annual property taxes from $1,500 to $8 million. Though the county's IT director spots the mistake and alerts the auditor's office, the wrong number nonetheless ends up being used in budget calculations, resulting in a $900,000 shortfall for the city and a $200,000 gap for its schools.
Posted by Andrew at 09:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bush really ought try to be less like McCarthy...
I don't have much to add to this:
In the prepared text of the speech, sent out by the White House some 40 minutes before Bush ascended the House rostrum, the president was to say, “Some in this Chamber are new to the House and Senate – and I congratulate the Democratic majority.” When Bush delivered the line, however, he paid tribute to the “Democrat majority.”Dropping the “ic” from the word “Democratic” may seem insignificant, but it was almost certainly a deliberate move by Bush, who has used the phrase “the Democrat Party” for months as a way of needling his opponents.
Republicans have periodically referred to their opponents as belonging to the “Democrat Party” for many decades, and the phrase was a particular favorite of former Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy. A recent Washington Post column filled in the backstory: according to the Columbia Guide to Standard American English, McCarthy “sought by repeatedly calling it the Democrat party to deny it any possible benefit of the suggestion that it might also be democratic.”
The phrase didn’t get much attention, however, until President Bush made it a mainstay of his public remarks during last fall’s midterm election season. It’s also used frequently by Republican lawmakers, conservative political activists, and conservative commentators and pundits.
For all of Bush’s talk tonight about crossing party lines to work with the new Democratic Congress, it is the missing two letters that may offer the clearest indication of whether partisan tensions are really like to fade in the waning years of Bush’s presidency.
– Yochi J. Dreazen
What a childish leader we have. Name-calling during the state of the union is, I suppose, just another example of our preposterous president...
Posted by Andrew at 08:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 23, 2007
The power of now
I often ask myself why things weren't invented sooner. Steam power, for instance, requires some fairly complex alloys and the ability to create and sustain high temperatures for a long time. It wasn't until the 1800s that we had these things. California's Central valley couldn't become productive until it had reliable irrigation, and crops that would actually grow there-- 2 things that didn't exist until roughly 1930...
In that spirit, I present:
The Trench-run scene from Star Wars Episode IV: a New Hope
(done by hands)
In order to do this, you need A) cheap cameras, and B) a cheap way of finding an audience. It wasn't until roughly 2004 that these things came to exist...
Man, I love now...
UPDATE:
Cheep cheep cheep...
Posted by Andrew at 09:49 AM | Comments (2)
January 22, 2007
Hillary's in
Her official announcement is here
Posted by Andrew at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
Best Muscial Ever
Posted by Andrew at 12:29 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2007
I'm wrong.
Waaaayyy back 2 years ago, I said that Hillary wouldn't run. I was wrong...
This demands an accounting. Why did Hillary behave in ways I would not? First, and most obviously, I failed to account for the fact that Senators run all the time. In fact, I'd guess that somewhere between 60 and 75% of all presidential contenders are Senators. None of them ever win. Therefore, we cannot say that Senators are likely to learn the lesson that Senators don't win...
Each of them must therefore think "Well, John Kerry/John Edwards/John McCain/Joe Lieberman didn't win, but I'm different, I'm special. I've got qualities and experiences that will outweigh the fact that my voting record can be (mis) construed to be on the publicly unpopular side of hundreds of votes." In fact, it is necessary to have this sort of Hubris in order to be a Senator in the first place...
I'd now like to go on record as saying that Hillary won't make it past the primaries. Of course, my Predictions have been wrong before. So we ought not be too shocked to see Hillary Clinton be sworn in late January 2009...
Posted by Andrew at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2007
Sometimes, Wii like porn...
Video games aren't for kids. At least, not just for kids. The median age of Video Game players is 30. People who are over 50 don't get that, but people who are under 40 do. The problem, of cousre, is that people who are over 50 make the laws and write the assnine articles about video games. Let me break it down:
I'm 28. I like games. I want a Wii. I also like porn. The ads aren't being targeted to kids. They're being targeted to me...
(Link via Ron Coleman, who sadly seems to think of video games as being for children)
Posted by Andrew at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2007
I want your meat, baby...
Meatlifting is a grave problem for food retailers: According to the Food Marketing Institute, meat was the most shoplifted item in America's grocery stores in 2005. (It barely edged out analgesics and was a few percentage points ahead of razor blades and baby formula.)
Why Americans love to shoplift meat. - By Brendan I. Koerner - Slate Magazine
At the Company Christmas lunch (catered in the break room), several of my colleagues decided that they could eat roast beef because "someone else was paying for it". Thus, I blame the rise of vegetarianism on the rise of meet theft...
Posted by Andrew at 09:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Our House is a very very very fine... Senate?
Taking Power, Sharing Cereal - New York Times
To Quote Ezra "I smell a sitcom"...
Posted by Andrew at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 18, 2007
I'd love to see the Data...
Nobel Intent: How does the brain handle numbers?
Posted by Andrew at 12:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2007
A guide to Republican-speak.
So, when a CEO makes hundreds of millions when his company loses market share, that's called "just compensation for services rendered"...
When management gets stock options and year-end bonuses, that's called "
profit sharing"...
When those who sell the goods and services in the stores ask for compensation to rise with productivity, that's called "class warfare"...
How much more is a CEO making than her lowest-paid employee? 475 that's neither normal nor inevitable
Remember kids: if you're poor, whatever you're doing is wrong...
Posted by Andrew at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2007
Sign of the Times
A customer today told me that Airport Security confiscated some anti-Bush key chains and bumper stickers. He believed that the action was both censorious and legal...
I don't know if the action or the belief in the action's legality bothers me more...
Posted by Andrew at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2007
Thank you sir!
The Rev. Dr. King reminded us that every human is human. The fact that he had to was an indictment on our nation. The fact that he rose magnificently to the challenge is to his everlasting credit. Let us remind ourselves that by making him fight to prove he was a man, we lost his talents as president...
Posted by Andrew at 03:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 14, 2007
Just so we're clear
I'm rooting for the Saints. All the way, Baby, all the way...
Posted by Andrew at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2007
Odd Question
I am perfectly happy walking around it socks and nothing else. Yet putting on my socks before putting on my underwear seems unnatural. Why is that?
Posted by Andrew at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2007
At least he still has those praying for the rapture...
On the Iraq war:
First he lost the Liberals. That was ok, because he never had them anyway.
Then he lost the Moderates (for instance, I stopped supporting the war in mid- to late- 2005). That was ok; he only needs 50%+1 to make a majority.
Of course, losing the moderates cost him his 50%+1, but that was ok, he still had his base...
Now he’s lost the National Review Online. Why? Because ultimately, only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would fight a war on 12 fronts! For those who don’t know, Bush losing support from the NRO is like Hezbollah losing support from Iran...
Gods be good people, what will it take for the American President to give up his insane quest to reshape the Middle East? Perhaps it’s necessary, but Bush is not the man who can make it happen...
Posted by Andrew at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)
Only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would fight a war on 12 fronts!
Let's see. We're at war with a multi-national corporate entity known as Al Queda. We're at war with their former Afghanistan sponsors, the Taliban. We are taking on all comers in a multi-sided civil war in Iraq. We're backing (and sending in troops to fight in support of) an Ethiopian incursion into Somalia. Who else can we piss off? What other fights ought we be looking for?
Oh. Iran. Why didn't I think of that?
While people of good faith could argue that any one of these is understandable, perhaps a good thing, maybe necessary; taken altogether these wars and skirmishes are a dangerous overstretching of our forces. Even in the WWII analogy that the Republicans are so fond of making, we didn't try to do D-Day, Italy, Greenland, Japan, and Africa all at once, without allies. We did them one at a time. Machines went into the Pacific, Men went into Europe. Once Europe was taken care of, we sent men into the Pacific. For the sake of all that is holy we didn't try to invade Italy and France at the same time!
Do I sound shrill? Am I sounding upset? Under any sane constitutional structure, such grand strategic overreach would see the Head of State tossed out on his or her ear. It wouldn't be possible to escalate in the face of overwhelming public disapproval. Our system has no gentler means of redress. Impeach President Bush. Impeach Vice President Cheney. Do it before the madness kills us all...
Posted by Andrew at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2007
Awesomest thing I've read all day
The G.W. Bush severance package. - By Henry Blodget - Slate Magazine
Posted by Andrew at 12:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant
The Romans knew how to say things. President Bush has finally figured out that there is a civil war going on in Iraq.
He’s not using those words, but he has picked sides. His address last night put the blame clearly on the side of the Sunnis. And Iran. Why he thinks the Shia mullahs in Iran would be helping the Sunni Arabs in Iraq against the Shia government of Iraq, I don’t know. He has, however, called for a 14% increase in the number of American troops...
Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki base of support rests on a foundation of sectarian violence. Specifically, it rests on the Mahdi Army, the one which is currently clearing Baghdad of Sunnis. President Bush now has the choice to either help that effort—and be responsible for Genocide. Or America can hinder the efforts at ethnic cleansing—and cause the Iraqi government to collapse...
The Iraqi PM fears that we’ll go with the second option: it would probably cost Maliki his life. Our choices have come down to A) genocide and B) anarchy; things in Iraq are going to be bad. President Bush thinks 14% more troops will solve this dilemma. He’s wrong. It just adds more American targets to the mess we call Iraq. Perhaps that’s just the price we pay for creating the situation in the first place...
UPDATE:
In all the terror over the proposed Genocide, I forgot:
We're sending another carrier to the Gulf, putting patriot missiles into Iraq, and the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is a Navy guy. This is all saber rattling at Iran. Also "We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border." We're gonna try to keep Kurdistan from declaring formal independence. Or try to get Turkey to not hate it if they do.
A 4 front war seems... ill advised...
Posted by Andrew at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2007
Fox News' new segment: Enemy of the State
First time as tragedy, second time as Farce. I guess:
I don't even know where to begin. Let's start by recalling that every nation which has had an "enemy of the state" (or similar) law has made the penalty death or exile.
Mr. Hannity spends roughly as much time talking about Mr. Penn's saying naughty things about... Mr. Hannity. It's not until the second sentence that we what learn Mr. Penn has done "against" the "State". In this case, it's calling for the legal censure* of the President, and much of the executive branch. These pair of sentences take roughly equal time, which means (near as I can tell) that Sean Hannity has confused himself with the state...
Megalomania must run rampant on the right. How else can we explain Tucker Carlson's getting someone fired for what they wrote on their (non work related) blog...
So: if you rent movies to people, you get fired. If make movies to be rented, the right will call for your execution. These conservatives aren't fringy people who we have to go looking for. These are huge named multi-millionaires with access to the White House. The fact that they are what corporate America thinks best represents our national debate is a frightening look at where America is headed...
*After the house Impeaches a president, they must be convicted by the Senate in order to be removed from office. It's this legal nicety that has kept Republicans from making grievous mistakes in the past...
Posted by Andrew at 10:41 AM | Comments (2)
January 09, 2007
Sunday sunday sunday...
Posted by Andrew at 11:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 08, 2007
Insurance:
Ezra makes a good point about the ability to buy insurance. Some people are unable to buy it at any price. Granted, this is a bit misleading; most of these jobs have employer-provided insurance. And it’s not like you see all that many freelance war reporters, telecom installers, or police officers. Still, stuntwomen, roofers, and furniture makers ought to be able to strike out on their own and live the American Dream. Our health insurance polices are making this prohibitively expensive...
After all, people on that list can still buy insurance from the surplus lines. Nevertheless, going to Lloyds of London just to get yourself covered for a cold seems a bit much. With luck, one of trio of new health insurance bills that has been proposed here in California will bring an end to a situation that has caused the death of entrepreneurial dreams—and no small few number of entrepreneurs...
Posted by Andrew at 09:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2007
Remember:
It’s the "John McCain Escalation Plan". Every time you hear about it, talk about it, or think about it, remember that. And when 2008 rolls around and he decides to run, remember what his “maverick” positions are...
Posted by Andrew at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 06, 2007
On behalf of non-Christian San Franciscans
Punkass Marc takes umbrage, on my behalf, at my congresswoman. Let me assure him that wartime peace prayers are always—at least for this San Franciscan—welcome. I do not care what their idiom is, or what theological context they were written in. What I care about is their content...
Marc also seems to misunderstand this passage from Speaker Pelosi’s speech:
“Let us be the Congress that rebuilds our military to meet the national security challenges of the 21st century.“Let us be the Congress that strongly honors our responsibility to protect our people from terrorism.
“Let us be the Congress that never forgets our commitment to our veterans and first responders, always honoring them as the heroes they are.
She’s calling President Bush (and the Republicans who ran the 109th congress) week and ineffectual; saying that they made us less secure. Taking every opportunity to remind voters that the Republican Party has made America appreciably weaker is vital strategy. The Republicans really will cause you to die...
Pelosi is turning GOP talking points on their heads. Marc seems to think that only Republicans are allowed to care about American security. For the time being, make mine Pelosi...
Posted by Andrew at 09:05 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 05, 2007
110th congress
In all the hoopla and excitement I'd felt over the fact that the bad guys are no longer in power, I'd forgotten one point: our new Speaker of the House is a woman...
This makes it a long-overdue historic day. I hadn't thought of it in those terms because... why the hell would I? Pelosi is my own personal congresscritter. She's capable, strong, and well spoken. The fact that she keep her gonads in a different place than I do doesn't effect any of that...
The fact that I-- a middle-class white male-- feel that way is of course, a victory for the feminists. So thank you feminist movement. Without you our available leadership pool would be substantially smaller, and thus my nation would be a poorer place to live. Now, Ms. Pelosi? You work for me. I expect some results or your ass is getting canned...
Posted by Andrew at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 04, 2007
Bush Can't read
W pushes envelope on U.S. spying
The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it.
Posted by Andrew at 12:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Trolling Craig's list...
Whisky From the Bottle, lives with mom, seeks like. But funnier...
Posted by Andrew at 11:46 AM | Comments (1)
January 03, 2007
Linked without comment
Iran: Hitler was a Jew - News from Israel, Ynetnews
MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) reported that a top advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed in an interview with Iranian website Baztab that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's parents were both Jewish and that Hitler himself was one of the founders of the State of Israel.
What can one say?
Posted by Andrew at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 02, 2007
A very silly article
I wouldn't even had noticed this Very Silly Article if Google hadn't pointed it out. Nonetheless...
Imagine you're the owner of a Las Vegas night club, say the Ceasars Palace's PURE nightclub. Britteny Spears falls asleep while partying. Since your entire customer base is people who want to be Britteny, you've got a problem. The whole world (at least the world who comprise your customers) is about to start thinking of your club as the sort of place where 25 year old newly single multi-millionaires can't find enough action to stay awake...
The easiest way to deflect the negative mindshare this is bound to bring is to blame the person herself. And whaddya know? Who's interests are being served here? Not those of Ms. Spears-- to the owners of the Ceasars Palace's PURE nightclub, she's just the help. Their name isn't even mentioned until the 3rd paragraph. The story isn't about how dull the nightclub is, but rather about how. Ms. Spears can't handle her lifestyle. Very clever Ceasars Palace's PURE nightclub. very clever indeed...
Posted by Andrew at 09:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Laurell loses it
Apparently there are some people who don't like Laurell K Hamilton's work. That's fine. I don't really have an opinion; I've never been all that fond of detective stories. Nonetheless, I have understand their merits well enough to recommend them to people who will like her books...
I guess some of the people who don't like her books have gotten onto her forum to explain to the world why they don't like her books. This behavior is, of course, bizarre and churlish. It does, however, spark this admission from Ms. Hamilton:
For God's sake, I'll be in the mall and see something, and go, "Oh, it's the perfect gift for (fill in the blank)." I've been in line with the present in my hand, before I go, "Wait, these are make believe people. I can't buy them a Christmas present."
When the line between what's in your head and what has objective reality starts to blur in that fundamental manner, it's time to put the pen down and go have a different sort of life. At least for a while...
Posted by Andrew at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2007
Dada Lives!
BBC NEWS | Europe | French marchers say 'non' to 2007
This may be the greatest protest of all time. Against all time, also...
Posted by Andrew at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hello World!
Today is the first day of 2007. I resolve to make this the best damned year I've had so far. No idea how I'll go about that, though...
What are your resolutions?
Posted by Andrew at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)